Electrical liquid vaporizers (often referred to as “liquid electrics”) are generally well known in the prior art. The primary function of these types of devices has generally been the counteracting of malodors through the delivery of aesthetically pleasing fragrance vapors, or facilitating the delivery of other vapors, such as insecticides or other compositions.
Typically, such electric liquid vaporizers comprise a housing unit configured to receive a bottle or liquid container portion. The bottle portion contains a wick or wicking system through which the volatile liquids can be migrated to a portion of the wick that is exposed to the air. The exposed portion of the wick is generally heated by a heating element disposed within the housing unit and proximate to the wick in order to suitably facilitate the vaporization of the volatile liquid to be dispensed therefrom. In vaporizers adapted to accommodate refill bottles when the contents of the bottle have been consumed, the bottles may be releasably attached to the housing. For example, the neck of the bottle may be threaded and engaged within the housing unit in a screw-like manner, or the bottle may be interconnected to the housing unit in a “snap-and-fit” manner.
In devices of this nature, the heating element delivers kinetic energy to molecules of the liquid as contained in the wick, thereby increasing the rate of evaporation to obtain higher fragrance intensity and uniform delivery density over time. Typically, in such units, the back side of the housing is equipped with electrical prongs that may be plugged into a conventional electrical outlet, and lead wires connected to such prongs are run through the body of the unit to the resistance elements in the heater located in the vicinity of the upper end of the wick, thereby causing the heating unit to heat the liquid and vaporized liquid that have been drawn up into the wick. Depending on the configuration and the aesthetic design of the vaporizer unit, the distance traveled by these lead wires may be considerable, and care must be used to keep them separated along the path of their travel.
In the vaporizer unit utilized in the present invention, an elongated plastic wire guidance frame is used for protecting and guiding these lead wires. Such frame is positioned on the interior of the housing with its bottom end located adjacent the electric prongs, and it extends upwardly, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wick, to terminate at its upper end in a circular ring structure in which the electrical resistance elements are embedded. The main body of the plastic frame is connected to said circular ring structure by a hinge, and in assembly the ring structure is bent over to a 90° angle to encircle the upper portion of the wick. The lead wires from the electric resistance elements embedded in the circular ring structure are guided through the hinged area downwardly along the body of the plastic frame to the point where they are connected to the electric prongs. A feature of the present invention is the protection of such lead wires in this special environment.